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| American Crow by John James Audubon |
Some days call for crows, their diabolical hop across the street, their strident harping at one another. The other day I could swear two of them, hanging at the end of the neighbor's driveway, were arguing. I thought I heard a derisory remark about the new Georgia gun law from the smart one, the one who sits up in the tree all day long, translating to the others. The others are always bewildered, screaming about this house or that, about the cat who looks more like a dog at the corner. The others are paranoid, feel threatened, exercise their liberties by stealing nuts from the old man in the gray house's tree, dash them onto the pavement, stoop down and pick at the pieces, like bits of brain. The smart one had enough at one point, it seemed to me. He flew down more like a bat out of hell, driving the others apart with his scream.
Like bits of brain.
ReplyDeleteWhew. You knock the wind out of me sometimes woman. In the very best way.
The pendulum has swung way, way too far on this gun law thing. I don't know what it's going to take to swing it back.
ReplyDeleteAsk that crow, will you?
they are interesting creatures to watch...you've described them so well. Sometimes, in my neighborhood, the trees are thick with them and then they all take off at once with a great hue and cry. Kind of eerie.
ReplyDeleteI read a study about these people who wore masks and harassed crows. The crows harassed them back. But not just the ones that were initially harassed by the humans. Other crows in other areas. The crows had taught one another to avoid the masked people.
ReplyDeleteIt may be apocryphal but I love it anyway.
I love crows. They're amazingly smart creatures. They even grieve for their dead. They live in large family groups and help to raise the young together.
ReplyDelete